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Residents Across the Country Facing Floods and Sanitation Concerns

April showers are nothing new, but the apparent inability of the UK’s drainage infrastructure to cope is causing grave concerns to households nationwide.
Extreme weather conditions and flash floods are part of life and happen across the country from time to time, particularly when sudden downpours coincide with higher than usual spring tides. However, the sheer scale of floods that have been reported up and down the country over the past year or so suggest that something far from the ordinary is going on.
An increased number of issues concerning blocked drains are making a bad situation worse. Growing towns and cities are struggling to keep up with increasing populations, while making do with a drainage infrastructure that often dates back to Victorian times.
The story has been seen time and again in London. Roads in Newham turned into rivers last summer, and only last month, concerned residents in Watford brought an ongoing problem that has been troubling residents for the past six months to local media attention. But with problems also reported throughout other towns in England, Scotland and Wales, the issue is by no means restricted to the capital.

Why the problems now?

The problem of blocked drains has been brought about by a combination of factors. A growing population that is not always careful about what it flushes into the system is certainly one part of the problem, and extreme weather blowing leaves from trees and then washing them into drains amid torrents of rainwater is another.
But even more critical is that many drains do not receive the ongoing maintenance they need in order to keep them functioning effectively.